


houses of the holy

by agameofsouls



Category: Original Work, Supernatural
Genre: Gen, anyways this is a thing, but mostly oc as they go by personal headcanon, characters are canon based
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 00:56:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17929718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agameofsouls/pseuds/agameofsouls
Summary: lucifer claims he wants to end the feud between heaven and hell, but can't seem to get michael to budge. so he comes after his best warrior instead.





	houses of the holy

the ability to instill doubt in someone was a powerful weapon, one lucifer frequently relied upon to move things along. the one person he could never crack, however, was his dearest brother. he was nothing if not the loyal and faithful son he was created to be. their father’s guard dog and hit man, wrapped into one holy package and given a great flaming sword.

lucifer couldn’t remember a time when his brother had ever questioned their father’s orders, even when it exhausted him. even when the aftermath left him in a state of anguish over what he had done, he still bent the knee to their father and fulfilled his every command. he never strayed, never asked why. and for that, he hated michael.

fighting beside him for all those years to bring peace and order to a blood stained earth only filled him with questions. why were they forced to clean up their father’s mistakes? how could he, an infallible god, make mistakes to begin with if he could see and know all? why did he decimate legions of his own children for questioning his rule and his vision?

there was no honor in this. that was something he could see almost from the beginning, but michael was blind to any alternative other than remaining faithful and pure. but lucifer could see the truth and the light, and it didn’t come from god – it came from himself. he was created to free his siblings from a fate such as this – blind obedience, a lack of free will, an eternity of servitude to an angry and merciless god.

he was not the villain that he was made out to be. he was the savior, the one that would rid them all of their chains, if only they would see the truth. some of his siblings did, and they paid a price for it. when he was cast out, so were they. together, they fell from heaven, down to the earth below. he watched from his crater as they came crashing down, like shooting stars exploding in the night sky.

he cried for them and for himself. he wept for the ones that still remained. he screamed for the injustices he had faced, and he vowed his vengeance. and now, he was so close to it that he knew michael could sense it. change was coming, and he was just months away from what he had waited a millennia for.

yet still, before he would conquer heaven itself, he longed to save his brother – if instilling doubt in him and causing him to fall meant saving. surely it did. michael would join the winning side, and he wouldn’t have to unnecessarily perish in his battle for the ultimate crown.

this was a small mercy he could grant him, despite everything that transpired. because, when it came down to it, they were just that – brothers. they had been created together in the same breath. their father intended for them to be his best generals, the leaders of his host and the protectors of his human creations.

but didn’t he see everything that would transpire? was he so short sighted that he didn’t know that lucifer would rebel ad rise against him? or perhaps it was in his plan all along, and he was still following his father’s orders. in that case, didn’t that make him just as blameless as michael? it was a dizzying thought.

“ i can sense your weakness, brother.” his voice is chilling, and it coils around michael’s throat like an icy tendril. he can see him shift uncomfortably. it’s so slight that others would have missed it, but he knows his brother just as well as he knows himself. he knows exactly how to make him squirm. “ it consumes you.”

michael stood in silence at the accusation. this wasn’t the first time he would hear it, and it wouldn’t be the last. dark eyes remain focused on a fixed point, refusing to meet his brother’s golden stare. to his right, he can sense anger and frustration radiating off of gadiel, and he knows she’s itching to drive her blade through lucifer.

a single outstretched hand in her direction has her scoffing and stepping back three paces, but her eyes never leave lucifer’s face, as if challenging him to give her a reason to run him through. michael finally lifts his gaze to meet his brother’s and sighs.

he’s so tired, evident by the bags beginning to form under his eyes, and the light that had slowly been dimming around him. he wants peace, and he is so tired of fighting, but he didn’t think that made him weak. perhaps it did, to want to rest. every possible action and the consequences of them rushed through his mind, already weighing down overburdened shoulders. “ what do you want from me?”

“ you know exactly what i want.” lucifer paces to the left. gadiel moves in time with him, her hand never leaving the hilt of her blade. it’s amusing to him, that such a young angel would think herself strong or powerful enough to go up against him, but he could admire the fire within her spirit. “ fall with me. be free with me.”

michael knew this was a trick. he knew that lucifer was waiting for the opportunity to strike him down. this wasn’t a peace meeting. there would never be peace when it came to him. as cold and collected as he appeared, conflict burned hot as a star beneath his skin, and there was no calming him. there was no putting that out. “ i will not. ”

this refusal did not hurt the great serpent one bit. he had anticipated such a thing, and was prepared for it. so he asked again, taking one step closer.“ fall with me. be free with me.”

harsher, louder, this time,“ i will not.”

another step closer, closing the gap between the two of them. the hiss of gadiel’s sword being pulled from its sheath cuts through the silence as his hand rests on the back of michael’s neck, forcing his brother to meet his eyes.“ fall with me. be free with me.”

the prince of heaven remains firm. his faith is unshakable, as was always expected. the hesitation in his voice does not come from a place of doubt, but rather longing. begging. he wants his brother to return home, to be part of the host again. their bond had been legendary, but now their rivalry overshadowed it. he can see in his eyes that offering mercy would only result in the same standstill they were in now.

again, he refuses, “ i will not.”

three times asked, three times denied. such was the nature of these things. it mirrored the day he had been cast out. michael had tried three times to make him stay. three times lucifer denied, saying he would not. his punishment for such a crime had been severance from his family, from his home.

even before he was locked away, michael had offered him mercy – a chance to come home, to be restored. but this was offered only once, and he had not accepted it. with a sigh, he lets go of michael and turns away, returning back to where he started. gadiel lowers her blade, and steps again to her commander’s side.

“ if you are so loyal,” he turns slowly, regarding the two warriors with a curious head tilt, no longer wishing to hide his motivations behind civility. “ then why do you keep a rebel as your right hand?”

gadiel’s heart races at the accusation, and michael’s eyes close with a sigh. he had hoped it wouldn’t come to this, and he already knew exactly where this path would lead. it was more than an ache that he felt now – it was a cold burn right in his soul, adding yet another burden to his already heavy load. shaking hands come to rest at his sides, and he waits for the other shoe to drop.

this reaction only makes the devil smirk. he had already won, and the both of them knew it. there was no turning back, no do overs. and he knew that this would be a most painful experience for his unwavering brother. “ not everyone knows you as well as i do. they would believe you to doubt father’s will because of your attachment to her. ”

“ what is he talking about?” panic is evident in gadiel’s voice as she directs her question to michael, who has yet to move, yet to open his eyes. her eyes flicker over to lucifer, regarding him with hatred and rage behind an expression almost as cold as his own. “ what are you talking about?”

“ your faith may be strong, but it is not in our father, is it?” his smirk widens and he steps forward. any moment now, his true reason for coming here would be revealed to the terrified angel, and his will would be done. “ you have strayed too far from the light.”

a shaky gasp passes from her lips and she rests a hand on michael’s shoulder. “ please, i do not understand.”

she is begging for an explanation, for guidance. anything, just to make him look at her, to tell her it would be alright and that they would fix it, hand in hand. this wasn’t the first time her faith had come under fire, but michael had always been there to defend her and to bring her back into the fold of heaven, and she had faith that he would now. wouldn’t he?

tears stream down michael’s face as he opens his eyes. you would make me do this? his expression says. yes, a thousand times, screams lucifer’s grin. michael turns to gadiel, silent tears still flowing, and he rests a hand on her shoulder. his voice is barely above a whisper as he says, “ i am so sorry.”

that’s when it hits her – this was the end. there were no more chances. she had burned those bridges to ash in the past, and now there was nothing left to keep her from falling. hot, angry tears well up in her eyes and she shakes her head, unable to move from her brother’s powerful grip. “ no. no. do not do this because he tells you to! do not be manipulated. please.”

he knew very well that this was a manipulation, but he had been painted in the corner with no exit. this was the only choice left available to him, or else he would risk damning his own soul and tainting his own grace. but always with one wing dipped in blood, as the saying went. 

“ gadiel, ” sorrow is overshadowed by authority. “ guardian of the south wind gates. for your faithlessness, i cast you out.”

light radiates from his hand, growing brighter as gadiel screams. it becomes blinding, and he can hear the sizzling sound of her grace being burnt away, just enough to sever her connection to heaven. her anguished cries echo in his ears long after she is gone, and he is left standing there, bitterly alone and empty handed.

the first thing gadiel notices is the cold. never before had anything like that bothered her when the warmth of her father’s light was within her. there’s a soreness, too, in her entire body. she had crashed down to the earth below, bot with a bang but with a whisper, and stood in the crater that she had made.

she was as naked as the day she had been created, covered in ash and soot. every muscle burned to move it, and where michael had gripped her shoulder remained a blackened hand print – a permanent reminder of her disgrace. upon her back were bright red scars, the charred remains of what had once been her wings. she feels off balance and uncomfortable without them to cover herself in, and instead wraps her arms around herself.

footsteps from behind make her jump nearly out of her burnt and bruised flesh. she turns her head and sees lucifer standing there. in one hand, he holds his sword, glistening and golden under the sunlight. in the other, a blood red cloak. he stares down at her, a curious look in his eyes. is this what he looked like? she wonders as silence sits between them.

“ i am truly sorry for what you have suffered,” he has no reason to lie. he knows far too well what this felt like. he had seen it happen to so many of his other siblings as well. it was never pleasant for him to witness, but she had to fulfill a purpose.

“ go back to hell,” gadiel practically spat at him. she resented him for this, and wished that she could have her blade back, if only to die fighting him. she had been humiliated in front of the eyes of god because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “ this is your fault! you made him do this.”

“ i did not make him do anything. our brother could have refused. who exists to stop him? you know just as well as i do that our father has abandoned us. you know just as well as michael does that he is in charge. yet he still cast you out. and for what? to appease someone who is not even listening? that hardly seems fair, does it?” he jumped down into the crater with her.

she took a step back, away from him. this had to be a trick. there was no way he was seriously here to apologize to her. he had never been sorry for anything, as far as michael had ever told her. but then again, every command she had ever been given had been from michael. that didn’t make sense if their father really was gone.

it was as if lucifer could sense her beginning to question things and he smiled, lowering his sword ever so slightly. “ i can promise you this, sister – if you serve me, i will never lie to you. i will never hide my agenda from you. if you serve me, i will never cast you out or abandon you. you will always have a home with me. ”

his words made her eyes well up again. of course he knew exactly how she felt. he had once been in this exact place, but he had done it alone. there was no one to come greeting him and offering him a home. the feeling of being truly alone and severed from heaven was just now starting to hit, and a sob escaped.

he stepped closer again, leaving his sword stuck in the ground behind him. his eyes stayed fixed on her face as he wrapped the cloak around her shoulders. she grabbed it and held it firmly around her aching body, and felt warm again. with a single finger, lucifer reached out and dried her tears. “ will you serve me?”

silence hangs heavy in the air, but he knows he’s already won. her voice is as quiet as the south winds. “ yes.”

he fights a smile as he rests a hand on her shoulder, opposite from her humiliation, and asks again. “ will you serve me?”

this time, she is able to meet his eyes. her voice still shakes as she agrees again. “ yes.”

a soft kiss is pressed against her forehead, and he pulls her into an embrace. half of him is overjoyed to have won a decisive victory against michael. the other half is genuine in welcoming his sister into his army. but he must ask her one more time, if only to satisfy his own fall.“ will you serve me?”

she embraces him just as tightly as she used to embrace michael, and she suddenly feels more at home here than she ever did there. there’s a strange warmth in this devil’s frozen embrace that she never felt in heaven, and she begins to wonder exactly who the bad guy is. one final word seals the deal on her soul, and lucifer swears he can hear michael screaming in agony when she says it.

“ yes. ”

**Author's Note:**

> this is meant to mirror the denial and restoration of peter. michael is the denial, gadiel is the restoration.
> 
> originally posted here: https://agameofsouls.tumblr.com/post/182743877587/houses-of-the-holy


End file.
